0:01

When you are at deposition

0:03

or in trial, I think that there are some tips that Kelly

0:07

and I will impart to you from the standpoint of

0:11

my, my own opinion.

0:12

Um, this is the time to, as with the defendant,

0:17

dress conservatively, maintain eye contact,

0:20

and the eye contact is not with

0:23

your counsel or opposing counsel.

0:25

I try to make eye contact with the jury so

0:28

that way they connect with me in a, in a better way.

0:32

Um, humor hu hu humble humor.

0:38

I think at best I think it's important

0:41

that you use people's names, both the defendant

0:44

and other doctors, so that way you're identifying

0:47

that you're paying attention to the details

0:51

and be comfortable with those facts.

0:53

Sometimes the lawyers will say, um, Dr.

0:55

Usam, do you recall that the patient came into the hospital

0:59

with complaints of a headache?

1:02

And frankly, I don't recall.

1:05

I simply asked for the medical record.

1:07

I, I don't wanna rely totally on my memory of things,

1:10

particularly if it's an important point.

1:12

I'll say, uh, I don't recall what the indication was

1:16

for the patient coming to the e emergency room.

1:19

Can you provide the medical record so I can see it?

1:22

Um, this is not a memory test,

1:24

and if you, if it becomes a memory test

1:27

and you fail on the memory part of it,

1:30

then the jury may be influenced that about your opinions,

1:34

even if it's unrelated to re memorizing the clinical history

1:38

or the specific potassium level, for example.

1:42

So I try not to, um,

1:47

have this become an issue about whether

1:49

or not I remember the medical record as opposed to being

1:52

provided with the me medical record.

1:55

As a radiologist, I think it's important that you work

1:57

with the clinical team to have a beautiful display

2:01

with arrows on the abnormality so that way the jury is able

2:04

to see something, not perceive it based on your description.

2:08

So use adequate display set up.

2:10

And sometimes it's, it's a, it's okay to admit

2:14

that you don't know something if someone asks you a specific

2:17

question, you know, what percentage

2:19

of vestibular schwannomas have hemorrhage?

2:21

And you don't know that, say, I don't know that,

2:24

but I know where in the literature to find

2:26

that out if it's an irrelevant, if it's a

2:28

relevant point to this case.

2:30

And, uh, again, I think drinking liquids is useful for

2:35

allowing you to have time to think

2:37

and also not have a dry mouth when you're testifying.

2:42

Um, additional tips don't stray from your expertise.

2:46

You're not an endoscopist, you're not a surgeon.

2:50

You can admit that if your

2:53

expertise is in interpreting postoperative images,

2:58

You say no, although I've never performed the surgery.

3:02

I have looked at hundreds of post-op craniotomies

3:06

and I know what it looks like

3:08

and should look like on a post-op MRI scan.

3:12

And this is abnormal.

3:14

That's how you refer to it,

3:16

that you're not the neurosurgeon,

3:19

but you have expertise in reviewing neurosurgical cases.

3:24

For example, you should know your past history,

3:26

your past publications,

3:28

and make sure that your testimony is not in variance to

3:31

what you have said in the literature,

3:32

because surprisingly, the lawyers are pretty sharp

3:35

and they will go into the literature

3:37

and try to dispute your credibility by quoting you

3:41

to you, um, know your expert opinion

3:46

and know your expert opinions in the past.

3:48

Because if your current opinion

3:51

differs from your opinion in the past, you're gonna have

3:54

to explain that because once again,

3:56

the lawyers are gonna look at your past testimony

4:00

and use that to impugn your credibility.